Opposition to CBM expansion firming up -- Watching for Goodlatte’s next move -- Wheeler takes the center seat at FCC

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OPPOSITION TO CBM EXPANSION FIRMING UP — It’s never been more clear that the biggest concern some have over House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte’s patent reform bill comes from the section that codifies an expanded definition for patents subject to the Covered Business Method review program. GOP Rep. Doug Collins, for example, confirmed to MT Wednesday that he will move to cut the section from the legislation that doesn’t have a lot of outright detractors but is still prompting anxiety on a few different levels. “We’re just gonna say let’s leave [the program] alone, let’s let it work itself out,” he said, noting that the CBM program is already set to sunset and adding that Rep. Suzan Delbene is backing the effort.

Some firms do support Goodlatte’s move on CBM, but many others don’t — and IBM now says it plans to fight the legislation unless the new CBM language goes away. “While we support what Mr. Goodlatte’s trying to do on trolls, if the CBM is included, we’d be forced to oppose the bill,” IBM VP Christopher Padilla told Brooks. “The financial impact of damaging software patents so outweighs the benefit of cutting back on the trolls that we just have to take that position.”

-- PLUS: WATCHING FOR GOODLATTE’S NEXT MOVE -- A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee takes its turn examining an overbroad patent demand letters this afternoon, but the main event for patent watchers might be a 2 p.m. discussion that’s slated to feature lawmakers who support reform bills — including Goodlatte. If Goodlatte indicates what might be in the manager’s amendment that virtually everyone expects him to float at some point, when he’s going to schedule a markup, or if he’s going to acquiesce to some committee members that want another hearing first, that would all make some news. Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Howard Coble are supposed to speak as well, as is John Cornyn, who has his own bill in the Senate.

Speaking of the Senate: Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy’s measure is increasingly imminent and could come as early as tomorrow or in the first part of next week, an MT tipster tells us.

WHEELER TAKES THE CENTER SEAT -- It’s FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s first open meeting as head of the commission today, and all the minions in the telecom world will be grading the chairman more on how he handles the meeting than what actually gets done. That’s not to say the meeting has little in the way of substance — there are three items on the agenda that touch on some of the FCC’s main subject areas as they deal with an update on USF reform, examining wireless broadband speeds, and broadcast ownership. Plus, it’s everyone’s first good look at new GOP commissioner Mike O’Rielly.

To watch: The FCC is rolling out an app designed to measure wireless broadband speed. The open-platform app will only be available for Android-based phones at first, but the commission will release an app for the iPhone once it’s finished. While the commission has measured wired broadband speed for years, it’s the first real foray into wireless speed. Finally, the commission is also expected to approve a declaratory ruling that eases the way for foreign entities that want to invest in the U.S. broadcast industry.

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING and welcome to Morning Tech, where we’re headed to Madison this weekend to take in a Badgers game against Indiana. We may even try to score some intel on Aaron Rodgers’ health status — dispatches will go straight to Sensenbrenner. Of course, we’re never too far from y’all. Find us at abyers@politico.com and @byersalex. And catch the rest of the team’s contact info after speed read.

W.H. POW-WOWS WITH TECH AMERICA ON IMMIGRATION — The White House and tech firms are still looking for a way forward on immigration reform, even as prospects for Hill action continue to dwindle. Reps from 40 firms under the Tech America umbrella sat down with top White House immigration adviser Felicia Escobar and a pair of other administration aides Wednesday to chat about efforts in the remainder of this year and into next. For their part, the tech firms — IBM, AT&T, Microsoft, and Qualcomm were among those in represented — told the Obama aides that they don’t accept the idea that reform can’t get done in the coming months, or even in an election year like 2014. Of course, the meeting came on the same day that Speaker John Boehner’s said flatly that the House won’t go to conference over the Senate’s immigration bill — which is yet another setback for the reform effort.

HOUSE PRIVACY GROUP BACK AT WORK, EYEING ‘INTERNET OF THINGS’ -- The gaggle of lawmakers that’s been tasked with working out some principles for where the chamber should head on online privacy rules is set to convene its second meeting today, focusing on the privacy implications of an uber-connected future colloquially called the “Internet of Things.” Former FTC technologist Ed Felten will meet with the eight-member group, as will Cisco’s Jeff Campbell and Elizabeth Board, executive director of the international standards-setting organization GS1. They’ll examine whether rules need to evolve to address a new level of device and appliance connectivity, or whether the current regulatory regime is appropriate.

The meeting, though, is just the second official meeting of the task force, which met in late September but has been hampered by the October government shutdown and has had at least one meeting canceled since then. The group doesn’t have a deadline, but it does have to work against the grain of a Hill dynamic that has largely ignored online consumer privacy rules.

WYDEN, THUNE WARN AGAINST DATA FLOW RESTRICTIONS IN TRADE DEALS — The two senators, in a WSJ op-ed: “[Agreements should ensure] countries cannot fragment the Internet by impeding digital data as people and businesses try to move that data freely across political or geographical boundaries. Countries must also be barred from blackmailing American companies into locating their technological infrastructure in a specific country in order to do business there. Right now, a growing number of countries, including Brazil and Indonesia, are threatening to require American cloud-computing providers to locate their servers and other digital infrastructure within a specific country's borders in order to compete for consumers there. That sort of extortion must end.” http://on.wsj.com/19m1dTy

IN TODAY’S INAUGURAL POLITICO MAG: THE ROBOTS ARE HERE — George Mason Professor Tyler Cowen looks at the state of automation and how it’s changing politics and the economy: “We may not (yet) be offloading our democratic responsibilities to computers, but we are empowering them to reshape our economy and society in ways that could be just as profound. The rise of smart machines — technologies that encompass everything from artificial intelligence to industrial robots to the smartphones in our pockets — is changing how we live, work and play. Less acknowledged, perhaps, is what all this technological change portends: nothing short of a new political order. The productivity gains, the medical advances, the workplace reorganizations and the myriad other upheavals that will define the coming automation age will create new economic winners and losers; it will reorient our demographics; and undoubtedly, it will transform what we demand from our government.” MORE:http://politi.co/HOa8Xu

FOR YOUR RADAR: PRITZKER SET FOR BIG SPEECH — The Commerce Secretary will deliver what’s being billed as the unveiling of her policy agenda this morning during an 11 a.m. speech. A key thread will be the “open for business” motto Pritzker has adopted, which means “we are focused on our most important customer — business leaders like you and the conditions necessary for your companies to grow,” she’s expected to say. “I truly believe — just like the President — that we will only be successful with great corporate leadership.”

-- ALSO: HOUSE DEMS UNVEILING PRINCIPLES FOR COMPETES ACT REAUTH: The New Democrat Coalition is releasing a set of guidelines it wants to use as Congress works on reauthorizing the R&D promoting America COMPETES Act. Top items include: Providing more consistent funding streams for R&D efforts, greasing the skids to viability for startups and small businesses, building on private-public partnerships, and backing STEM education and workforce training. The House Science Committee looked at a draft reauthorization bill on Wednesday, and the Senate Commerce Committee held its first hearing on the effort last week.

SPEED READ

OPENING STATEMENTS UNDERWAY IN APPLE VS. SAMSUNG: So far, the trial is a deja vu of sorts, the New York Times reports: http://nyti.ms/19m1nKE

SNAPCHAT REBUFFS FB OFFER: The firm’s young leaders think that even a selling price of a few billion is too low, the NYT reports: http://nyti.ms/19m1ype

OBAMA TEAM CONTINUES IMMIGRATION PUSH: The president is reaching out to groups sympathetic to his effort, looking to back the GOP into a must-act situation, the Wall Street Journal reports: http://on.wsj.com/186yZAj

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